Rummenigge fears Cristiano will pick up his third Ballon d’Or

Bayern Munich Executive board chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says he is worried that Cristiano Ronaldo will be presented with the 2014 Ballon d’Or at tomorrow’s FIFA gala and not Manuel Neuer.

“Judging from what I’m hearing from the experts over the past few days, the general consensus seems to be that Cristiano Ronaldo will win. If I’m completely honest with myself, I have to say I’m worried that they could be right,” Rummenigge told German agency, DPA.

For Rummenigge, Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer would make be a deserved winner of the award as he won the most recent World Cup. “Winning the World Cup should be a decisive factor,” he argued. “It’s the most important event in the game”.

Fighting Cristiano’s corner however, was ex-Madrid right-back Michel Salgado, who spent 10 years playing alongside some of the greats of the game. “It’s an important award for the players. It’s a close battle and out of the three candidates that are left, I think the best of last year was Cristiano Ronaldo. He has really exerted himself during the past two years and the figures he has set are incredible. He deserves it this time and if I could vote, I’d vote for him,” Salgado told fifa.com.

The former madridista spoke about Neuer’s chances of winning the Ballon d’Or saying that while it has traditionally been difficult for defenders and goalkeepers to be recognized as the world’s best, “by that I’m not taking anything away from him; he has had a magnificent year too, winning the World Cup with Germany and many trophies with Bayern. But it’s difficult to see Neuer competing with a striker with Cristiano’s characteristics. I’m sure it wasn’t any easy decision for those who voted and whoever wins will have deserved it”.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/14JzIZe

via IFTTT